An extension of the Common Sense Journalism monthly column by Doug Fisher, former broadcaster, newspaper reporter and wire service editor. From new media to old, much of journalism is just plain common sense."In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." - Unknown (often improperly attributed to Thomas Jefferson)
"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it." - Upton Sinclair
"Common sense is not so common" - Voltaire
"Common sense is instinct; enough of it is genius" - George Bernard Shaw

Sunday, December 16, 2007

The Paper

I caught the national screening of "The Paper" this week on PBS' "Independent Lens," and let me add my voice to the praise the documentary has receive. If it is screened again on PBS, I highly recommend you watch it.

This yearlong look at The Daily Collegian, the independent student paper at Penn State, encapsulates every problem -- and joy -- of the news business these days, from falling circulation to the rising stranglehold power of PR (especially in sports). Yet it was also inspirational to see these young journalists work around the obstacles. (Only downside -- I wish the filmmakers had sought to put the school's sports information department on the hot seat.)

It's good to see from the IL site update that several of the students featured in the film are still in journalism. But it's also disappointing to read this from James Young, the paper's editor during that year:

After two years of laboring at a small newspaper after graduation, the lack of job opportunities in journalism encouraged me to pursue another passion: urban revitalization. I'm living in Philadelphia and in my first year as a grad student in the City Planning program at the University of Pennsylvania. Now I think about traffic circulation instead of worrying about newspaper circulation.

I hear that too often from some of our best graduates, too, and I sometimes wonder if anyone in this business is listening.

I'd love to buy a copy of the DVD, but at $400 a pop that's out of range. (Yes, I understand and support the creators' right and desire to make some bucks out of this, but these days we individual instructors have to buy a lot of these materials, so maybe some kind of "educational" arrangement -- the "Independent Lens" site indicates "educational" copies are available, but I don't see anything on the distributor's site. We'll see what an e-mail inquiry brings.)

Until then, the IL site tells me "The Paper" is being rebroadcast at 3:30 a.m. this Tuesday, so I guess it'll be slip the tape into the VCR.

(Update: Found an excellent review and further update by Jonathan Storm of the Philadelphia Inquirer.)

Yes, I do coaching and consulting. That is the only shameless commerce you'll get from me here. Go to the bottom of the blog for more details.
Who am I: A longtime print and broadcast reporter/editor/producer and then AP news editor who now professes journalism at the University of South Carolina. (But please note, nothing on this blog represents official university policy or sentiment. If it did, I'd be very concerned.)My point: That journalism is a great occupation, that most journalism is common sense and that our problems arise when we sometimes don't use it.What's covered: My interests center on editing and writing and on editors and the challenges they face in a changing environment. I'm convinced editors are not being trained enough to face these challenges, but that common sense rules the day. I'm heavily involved in Newsplex, the new-media newsroom at the University of South Carolina. But my interests are wide-ranging, so anything, from ethics to some aspects of Web design, is fair game.
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Common Sense Journalism &nbspYes, I do seminars and consulting. Among those I have worked with are the SNPA Traveling Campus, S.C. Press Association, N.Y. Press Association, Georgia Press Association, Mississippi Press Association, Virginia Press Association, Landmark Community Newspapers, American Copy Editors Society, Society of Professional Journalists, Lancaster (S.C.) News, The (Rock Hill, S.C.) Herald, The (Sumter, S.C.) Item, the Internal Revenue Service and the Social Security Administration. Contact me for more information.